never too old for a well-told yarn

Matilda the Musical: It’s a Miracle!

Jen took this photo during our unsuccessful bid to secure tickets via a lottery.

I was lucky enough to get tickets last week to see Matilda, which I’ve wanted to see ever since it came out in London. Unfortunately Jen had left New York by then, so it was just me. Here are some spoiler-lite highlights:

there are plenty of surprises, even if you, like me, have listened to the soundtrack more times than is healthy and know the book inside and out

the set was covered in what looked like gigantic Scrabble tiles, and it was fun picking out the words. I found “joy” and “child” and “Alice,” presumably of the Wonderland variety

for anyone who’s wondering how they managed the Bruce Bogtrotter Cake Eating Miracle, fear not. No children were force-fed in the making of this musical. I suspect secret compartments or hidden pockets, though it was hard to tell from my balcony seat.

there’s a clever use of shadow puppet art that reminds me of the Tale of the Three Brothers from the seventh Harry Potter Movie (arguably the best scene of the entire movie series…)

remember the part in the book when Matilda tells Miss Honey about all the books she’s read, Dickens and Bronte and all those classics? She does that too in the musical, with some noteworthy additions. The one that got the best laugh was Lord of the Rings. Clearly I wasn’t the only geek in the audience.